November 30, 2007

Hello everyone!

We are in Sedona, AZ at the moment, trying not to
float away...but am continuing our little saga
here!

On Nov 13 we left Hot Springs Village and drove
to Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas.
It is the only place in the world where there are
"real" diamonds that anyone can look for and keep
them if they find them! We saw it on tv, on the
Discovery Channel....

We got there in the afternoon, so we didnt look
for diamonds until the next day. We did walk
all over the diamond mine....and you will all be
happy to know that they let dogs go into the
mining area! Allie was so darn excited she almost
wanted to put on her hat and sunglasses again! I
was sure that Allie could sniff out a diamond far
quicker than I could....
>
So the next morning, Nov 14, Ken, Allie and I
paid our $13 and got our shovels, buckets,
screens and off we went..We spent the day digging
shovels of dirt,filling the bucket, then running
the dirt through the sluice to see if there was a
diamond in there......no luck. Allie's nose didnt
even sniff out a tiny chip!
She did find a squirrel to chase, and we walked
by the river, so Allie had fun regardless - I did
too..

On Nov 15 we drove from Arkansas to Dallas, TX,
which is where Kens mom, Betty, lives. As soon
as we crossed the border into Texas, I found out
that Ken loves Whataburgers....they have burgers
and shakes and french fries. He said they only
sell them in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, and
they are his favorite! So we had lunch there on
our way. I am not even going to tell you how
often we have stopped at Whataburger now....

We stayed at Lake Lavon in an Army Corps of
Engineers campground. It was right on the lake,
and it was really nice. There are some pictures
here of the lake at sunrise and Allie walking
in the lake.... I was really taken by surprise at
how windy and chilly it was in Texas - I guess
Ive always heard about how hot it is, and didnt
even think about how we would have to turn on the
heat!

We visited with Betty until Nov 18....then drove
to Montgomery Texas to visit my Aunt Barbara
and Uncle Hank. We had dinner with them at their
house that night, and slept in a KOA Campground
on the lake and golf course in Montgomery. I have
not spent very much time with them in my life,
because they have lived in Texas since I was
small....it was great to be able to visit, and do
some catching up. I was actually so excited about
it that I forgot to have Ken bring his camera in,
and now we dont have a picture! Maybe they will
read this and send me one of the two of them!

More soon!

Love from Mindy, Ken and Allie